Page 8 of Midnight Creed

“Is there a shelter nearby?”

“Where’ve you been O’Dell? Shelters can’t keep up. Besides, a lot of these people don’t like rules to begin with, so getting clean, sober or finding Jesus is not on their to-do lists. The city keeps moving them off the streets. They just show up somewhere else. Don’t even get me started.”

Maggie decided she needed to get it off her chest. “Why didn’t you call me before they moved the body?”

“Hey, I’ve got orders to clean things up and clean them up quick. I’m not sure if the powers-that-be were more upset about another homeless body or the overturned Dumpster. When I mentioned calling in the Feds on account of the similarities, I could literally hear my boss’ sigh of relief.”

“My team’s going to want all the evidence you collected along with today’s.”

“Not a problem. Glad to hand over whatever you need. So, can I tell him you’re on board?”

“One other condition.”

“Name it.”

“You learn something new. You call me immediately.”

“No problem.”

“I’m serious, Racine. I should have been here before the body left the crime scene.”

“You’re right. My bad.” She put up her hands in surrender, and Maggie couldn’t help wondering if this was a newly learned behavior that came with the language clean up.

“Detective Racine.” One of her officers called out. He was in hazmat coveralls and standing in the middle of the garbage pile. “We might have found something.”

Neither Racine nor Maggie hesitated.

As they got closer, Maggie could see the plastic bag he held in his gloved hands. It opened enough to show a piece of fabric. The blood looked fresh. The bulge at the bottom suggested there were other items in the bag.

“Now, this is interesting. Did he really think we wouldn’t go through the Dumpster?” Racine asked.

“Maybe not today,” the officer told her. “It was pretty full. Coffee shop owner said pickup is normally before noon. If it got dumped before we got here, it’d be a nightmare to track down and go through.”

“Do you think the killer knew that?” Racine asked Maggie with an intense look that expected the profiler to be worth the early morning visit to her crime scene.

Maggie glanced at her, but her eyes stayed on the bag dangling from the officer’s hand. “He may have known and took advantage of the disposal. Or...”

“Or what?”

“Or he simply didn’t care.” Maggie’s gut instinct told her it was the latter.

“Either way,” Racine said, “it looks like that young asshat who crashed into the Dumpster may have given us a lucky break.”

5

Santa Rosa County, Florida

“No way! That’s a human bone?” Deputy Greer seemed a bit freaked out, and Creed wondered how long he’d been in law enforcement.

“Gunner, drop that.” The man named Sully bent over his dog and pointed to the ground.

She relinquished the bone as he dug deep into the pocket of his baggy pants and brought something that looked like the corner of a dried out sandwich. Whatever it was, Gunner reluctantly made the trade. Sully picked up the bone with no hesitancy and handed it to Norwich.

From her daypack, the sheriff yanked out a pair of latex gloves. She pulled them on and dug in the pack again until she found an evidence bag. In the meantime, Creed started to retrieve Bolo’s reward toy. The dog may not have found what his handler had asked for, but he did alert to a scent he’d been trained to find.

Before Creed fingered the toy, he noticed Bolo had repositioned himself to face Hogan. His nose twitched, pointed up, and sniffed directly in the man’s direction. Hogan had his back to the dog and focused on the exchange of the bone from Sully to Norwich. But Bolo was no longer interested in the bone. Instead, he inched forward until his nose almost touched the hem of Hogan’s jacket.

The final snort got everyone’s attention, especially Hogan’s. He wheeled around, almost losing his balance. But Bolo was finished. He patted the ground at Hogan’s feet, then look over his shoulder to Creed, making sure his handler noticed.